Club Sparta: Be Strong and Courageous

The Spartan Kids

Before Starting Practice

Warming up Playing Soccer

Our Work

Club Sparta is a nonprofit wrestling club founded in 1994 in San Juan, Puerto Rico. It was developed with the goal of helping kids reach their potential on and outside of the wrestling mat. Club Sparta works with kids who come from all types of backgrounds and different social economic status. Each kid is unique and we see the intrinsic value they have despite the challenges they may face at home and in life.

Our view of Success

Club Sparta and it’s coaches believe that the greatest way this club measures success is not so much by the medals and accolades, but rather how well each kid can implement those five characteristic of wrestling in their life. We have great joy when a wrestler from Sparta obtains medals at any level, but we rejoice even more when these characteristics help the kids develop life skills that will help them in the future. In addition, Club Sparta has been working on developing a tutoring program to aid the kids with schoolwork as well. The aim of this tutoring program is to provide the kids, who cannot afford it, with academic support before they pursue college education.

This wrestling club maybe small, but we have the desire and passion to reach out to kids through the sport of wrestling. Club Sparta is continually evolving as companies and people join them in support to help them to continue to be a positive change agent in society. Club Sparta’s slogan is taken from the Biblical verse from Joshua 1:9, and as we undertake this task and strive towards that goal, we recognize that God is the one who works in us to will and act in order to fulfill His good purpose.

The Benefits of Wrestling

The sport of wrestling has many benefits that may not be as strongly promoted in others sports. Club Sparta establishes and reinforces five positive characteristics of wrestling that will help the kids develop further. These characteristics are:

No discriminationNo matter your body type, height or weight, male or female, there is a place for you in wrestling. In some sports, only certain body types are able to succeed. In wrestling, your desire and attitude is enough to compete.

Self-confidenceWhen you wrestle, you cannot rely on anyone but yourself. You are accountable for how you wrestle whether you win or lose, and a positive attitude is required to succeed.

DisciplineSome of the duties of a wrestler are to get up very early for morning runs, be committed to the demanding practices, and sacrifice some social activities for training. When wrestling is taken serious, you learn quickly that this sport requires an insane work ethic. Sometimes, you have to do things that aren’t that “fun” to reach your goals.

Mental ToughnessIt takes a tremendous amount of toughness to pick yourself up off the mat when you are losing during a match, and it takes incredible will power to continue wrestling hard until the end.

SportsmanshipWrestlers develop more than just a sense of respect for each other; you develop an admiration because you will know how difficult it is to be consistent in training and wrestling.

Meet the Spartan Girls

Mabel Fonseca is a retired wrestler who competed for Puerto Rico in the women's lightweight category. Like her there are other women who wrestle for Club Sparta and other wrestling clubs who dedicate much of their life in pursuit of being the best they can be in the sport of wrestling while studying and helping their family as well.

Club Sparta is proud to promote women’s wrestling because we want them to have the opportunities to develop the characteristics and benefits that the sport of wrestling brings. The popularity of women’s wrestling has grown exponentially in the last decade. Today, women compete against women at every level from youth competition to the Olympic Games. Thus, Club Sparta is striving to take the lead in women’s wrestling by producing Spartan girls who not only can wrestle, but also can make a positive impact in society.

Make a difference

Become part of the history of Club Sparta by donating through PayPal. 100% of the donations will go towards buying wrestling shoes and wrestling singlets for the kids that do not have them. Most of the kids cannot afford buying the proper gear for training and have to train in bare feet as you saw in one of the pictures and video. Practicing in bare feet can cause hygiene related medical issues that can be prevented with your support. Lets unite together to wrestle for the future.